Mischief Unmanageable
by Siriusly in Lurve
Summary: Lily and the Marauders accidentally time travel to Harry's third year. They discover things about themselves, and see truths that they would rather not face. Bonds are made, restored, and broken as they struggle to find a way back to where they belong.
1. Chapter 1

_"The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once." -Albert Einstein_

James Potter was usually not one for premeditation.

At the age of three, he'd flown his toy broomstick straight out the door of his Godric's Hollow home and into the clear sights of many Muggles. (His mother had not been pleased. Nor had the Ministry, in fact.)

At the age of seven, he'd been testing out his magic and accidentally turned his cat a sickly shade of green. (His cat had not been pleased either.)

At the age of twelve, he, along with two of his roommates, started to train to become animagi to be with their fourth werewolf roommate on the full moon. (Remus had tried to pretend he was not pleased.)

At the age of fourteen, eleven months and twenty-eight days, he drank his first firewhiskey. (At the age of fourteen, eleven months and twenty-nine days, he had his first hangover. He was most definitely _not _pleased.)

At the age of sixteen, he received his fifty-seventh detention with pride. (Sirius was not at all pleased, having been only on his forty-third.)

So you see, sufficient forethought before action was not at all his thing. Yet, on the afternoon of September 27th, 1977, James wished deeply that premeditation _was _his thing, for he would probably be more resistant to putting himself in situations like his current one.

"Are you sure this will work, Padfoot?" James asked his friend, glancing at the door. He ran a hand through his dark hair. He had good reason to be nervous. If anyone saw them in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, there would be many questions to come upon them. Questions that he could not think of a logical answer to at the moment.

Sirius Black grinned at the Head Boy, tilting his head to the side in consideration. "Not at all. But what's life without a little risk, eh?" His grin only increased when James' brow furrowed at his words.

Remus Lupin paced hurriedly around the room, sighing as he had been doing every few minutes. "We're all being idiotic, you realize–" he started. This was one of the more common phrases he'd began, and just like most other protest he'd uttered on that day, it was cut off by the disinterested voice of Sirius Black.

"_Relax,_ Moony, what's the worst that could happen?" asked Sirius, pushing his hair out of his eyes as he concentrated on the book in front of them.

They had been working on finding out a spell for time travel for quite some time now, as an experiment to see where they'd be at the end of the year, and Sirius had finally found one that could work. Sirius seemed to have utter confidence in the spell, but James and Remus were a bit more hesitant. Remus, because he was a realist and was aware of the consequences, James because he'd just become Head Boy and didn't want to give Dumbledore –or his partner for that matter– reason to think that the decision was wrong.

Remus gave Sirius a sceptical look, but kept quiet.

"It's going to work," said Peter, nodding to Sirius. "Padfoot is one of the top students in our year, he's an animagus for Christ's sake, have a little faith!"

"Not so loud," hissed Remus, his eyes darting to the door. It was not a well-known fact that there were three unregistered animagi running about once a month, considering the fact being unregistered was illegal. He raised his voice back to the normal level. "Faith, really, Wormtail? This is Sirius Black, the git whose top priority after graduation is to get a Muggle motorcycle rather than a job. If he's reckless enough to muck about with someone with a furry little problem once a month, he's certainly reckless to try a spell without having a damned clue whether it'll work."

Sirius rolled his eyes, too excited about the spell to pay his friend any heed. "C'mon, it's not going to bloody kill you to just _try it out_. I've done quite the bit of research and I reckon the spell is solid. So maybe we end up a month or two further than we intended, no big deal. The spell should wear off after about five minutes, and we'll be back here anyways."

James looked at him impatiently. "Can we just get the spell over with?" he grumbled, annoyed at himself for caring about whether or not they'd be caught.

Sirius took out his wand, looking over the text one last time before throwing the book in the corner and beginning. "_Alius_–"

Lily Evans, the current Head Girl walked through the doors. "I heard yelling, what are you lot doing in the girls' lavatories?–"

"–_Vicis_!" Sirius finished with a movement of his wand.

Suddenly, Moaning Myrtle's bathroom disappeared, and all five of them were on a dimly lit street. Wherever it was, James was certain it seemed very far from Hogwarts. And he couldn't help noticing that Lily looked incredibly pissed off.

Lily turned to Sirius with a burning look in her eyes. "What the _hell _did you do?" she asked, fury emanating from her.

Sirius donned a slightly worried, befuddled look, peering about the unfamiliar street. "It was supposed to be a time travel spell, to take us to the end of the year." he said confusedly. "I don't know why it transported us here,"

"Where d'you suppose we are?" asked James, glancing around.

Remus pointed towards a street sign. "According to that sign, Magnolia Crescent," He too looked very frustrated, probably trying to remember if he'd ever heard of such a place.

Lily frowned. "That's in Surrey! That means we're nowhere _near_ Hogwarts!" she said in exasperation, throwing her hands up. She narrowed her eyes at James, and suddenly he felt two inches tall. "I gave you the benefit of the doubt for the past month, Potter, because you said you were going to take this job seriously. But you're not even _trying,_ are you? The moment I put a little trust in you, you... do something like this," Her tone was not accusatory, it was disappointed, and that fact made James feel a thousand times worse.

"I have been trying, Evans– Lily, I have," James repeated, seeing the doubtful look on her face. "It's just, yeah, sometimes I do before I think and don't consider the consequences of screwing around with my mates, but I didn't mean for you to get involved, and I'm sorry that you did," He hated apologizing, but he knew at this point he owed her one, and he really was sorry. Though he had been her rival for the first four years of their schooling, in fifth year he'd fancied her. He ignored her as best he could throughout their sixth year, but he could not pretend that the feelings were gone, though he chose not to act on them anymore.

Lily sighed, a crease in her brow as she frowned even deeper. "It's not the fact you involved me in it, Potter, it's the fact you did it in the first place. There's a time and place for immaturity, and you don't seem to realize that."

Sirius gave the two Heads pointed looks. "Could you two please continue your lovers' spat some other time? The spell is supposed to have worn off by now, and it appears that it's not going to." He looked around. "There must be a wizard family _somewhere_ in the area." He said, though James could hear in his tone that he wasn't confident. There was absolutely no way to make certain of that without stopping by at every house to ask, 'Hey, you wouldn't happen to be magical, would you?' (James had made that mistake once at the age of six, the neighbours were quite confused.)

James drew in a breath as he looked up. There was an enormous lady with a red face floating above one of the houses, several streets away. "I'm guessing if there is a magical family, they're in that one," he said, and though his nerves were still on edge, he managed a chuckle.

"_No, really_?" bit off Lily sarcastically.

They started to walk towards the house, when they saw a younger boy running towards the street they were on, owl cage in hand. Owls being the way that wizards communicated, it was obvious that this boy, at least, was magical. The black-haired boy collapsed, panting, on a low wall on Magnolia Crescent.

Sirius glanced at James, then back to the boy, and then once more at James. "That kid sort of looks like you, Prongs," he remarked thoughtfully.

All took a cautious step towards the boy, but luckily, they weren't in his line of vision yet. James peered at the boy intently, trying to get a better look at him. "Yeah, he does. He seems to be way younger, though, probably a second or third year,"

Remus looked contemplative. "Maybe, instead of travelling to the future, we travelled to the past." he suggested after a moment. With the clear similarities between the two, it seemed to the others that this could have very well been a younger James.

James reflected on his holidays during his second and third years, and shook his head. "That's impossible, Moony. I'm fairly certain never seen this street in my life. How can it be the past if it's something I haven't done?"

"Then is it just supposed to be a coincidence that the kid looks just like–" began Sirius. His expression shifted to a grin as he seemed to realize something. "I get it. I've figured it out now," he muttered with a knowing look.

"Get what?" asked Peter in confusion, "What have you figured out?"

Sirius looked at them incredulously, as if the answer was completely obvious. "Don't you understand?" he asked excitedly. "We _are_ in the future. Just not the _near _future like we expected it to be. That's Prongs' son!"

They turned their gazes toward James, questions in everyone's eyes that he did not have the answers to. He shrugged helplessly. "It could be. How should I know who I've shagged years from now?" If it were indeed his child, that would mean that the house that woman was floating away from was his own, and probably also contained his future spouse. James hoped to Merlin that the floating woman wasn't her, she didn't seem at all his type. (Though his type was rather specific.)

He started to approach the boy out of curiosity, but Lily grabbed his shoulders and pulled him back. "Don't be an idiot!" she told him. "Bad things happen to wizards who meddle with time," she warned him.

James ignored her warning and kept walking toward his supposed 'son'. If he really did have a kid, he wanted to know about it. Surely if he did, he would have told his son about this whole time travelling endeavour he'd had, wouldn't he?

James tapped the boy on the shoulder. The younger person turned, startled. Looking closely, James could see what Sirius had meant. It was like looking at a live picture of him in third year. They had the same face almost exactly, though James' nose was a bit longer and James was slightly tanner than the boy in front of him. James, being seventeen, was also much taller than the boy. Also, the spectacles around the boy's eyes were round, not square like his own. And the kid's eyes, they were a brilliant green that instantly reminded James of Lily.

"Who are–" started the child. Then he drew his wand and pointed it at James' throat, a dark look in his eyes. "Do you think you're funny?"

James was as startled as the boy had been a few moments ago. "No, I'm James Potter and –"

The boy stood up, hatred flashing into his eyes. "You're mocking me. If you don't think I'm aware that my father's been dead for the past twelve years–"

_Dead for the past twelve years._ Those words pounded in James' ears and his eyes widened, his brain starting to take in what the boy had just said. "Wait, your father's name is James Potter... and he's dead?" he asked in a strangled voice. His heart thudded loudly as he panicked. He wasn't... he couldn't be...

Sirius marched forward, possibly sensing the panic in James by seeing his rigid form, or perhaps just seeing the boy's drawn wand. Remus and Peter followed, and very reluctantly, Lily trailed behind them until all of the others were standing along with James.

The boy turned to Lily and his eyes –eyes that James couldn't help noticing were indeed the exact same shade of green as Lily's– softened slightly, but also swirled with confusion. He lowered his wand and looked between James and her. "Mum? Are you – What's going on?" he asked. "You say your name is James Potter, and you look like my mum and dad, but I know by now that they've been dead since before I can remember! Someone better tell me what the bloody hell is going on, because if this is a joke I'll–"

Lily' eyes widened and her mouth fell open. "I-I look like your _w-what_?" she stuttered, looking as if she might faint.

James felt dizzy. The look on that boy's face –his bloody _son's_ face– was enough to prove that he believed Lily was his mother. His _mother._ Meaning, James's future effing _wife._ So he'd finally gotten together with Lily and married the girl and had a freaking kid and _then they'd gone and died?_ He was nauseous and wasn't sure whether he was going to fall over or get sick on the pavement first.

The boy glanced around at everyone, hurt and uncertainty prominent in his face. "Will someone please explain what's going on?" he asked desperately, running a hand through his hair. It made the child look so much like James that James was seconds away from collapsing. It was only his urge to know the truth which kept him conscious.

Lily looked at him, looking more vulnerable than any of the others had seen her. "I don't know what's going on," she told the kid truthfully, "Can you tell us what your name is, and what day it is?" she asked him. "A bit of background information on your parents would help as well."

He looked torn as to whether to trust them, but then sighed and said, "My name is Harry James Potter. It's August 3rd, 1993." he told them. "My parents were Lily and James Potter, and they died in 1981 because Voldemort came after me and they wanted to save me." Harry swallowed, and this gave James a moment to think.

Lord Voldemort had been on the rise since the five seventeen-year-olds had started Hogwarts. He was prejudiced against Muggles, and Muggle-borns. Unlike most others with this view, he took to Muggle slayings and targeted anyone who stood in his way, Muggles, and half-bloods and purebloods alike. Even those with wizarding ancestry dating back centuries were not safe if they were considered 'blood-traitors'. He had a larger following than anyone since Grindelwald's time, his supporters called 'Death Eaters' and the fear he struck into the wizarding world was such that hardly anyone dared utter his name anymore. The attacks had been getting more and more frequent over the past few months. However, Lily and the Marauders for the most part were not afraid to call him Voldemort.

Harry went on. "Somehow, I survived the killing curse and it rebounded against him, leaving me with a scar on my forehead." He seemed to pause in thought. "I have a picture of my parents in my trunk!"

He turned away and opened his case, rifling through it for a while. Soon, he pulled out a framed picture and handed it to James. His breath caught in his throat as he looked at it. It was Lily and him, maybe a year or so older than they were at that point, twirling around in a bevy of falling leaves. James had his arms wrapped around her as they half-danced in the picture. They were laughing, and they looked so goddamn _happy_. It set off a pang in James' chest. He handed it wordlessly to Lily.

Lily's hands trembled as she held the photo, shaking her head in disbelief. "Impossible," she said softly, looking puzzled. "I don't understand this. I've barely talked to Potter since fifth year, and now all we talk about is Head duties. We've never gotten along, and we're supposed to have gotten _married_,"

Harry looked surprised. "You've never gotten along? Whenever people talk about you two, they make you sound like you loved each other more than anything. They talk about you together, never apart. It's always _Lily and James_, as if you were one person." He paused, smiling. "Except when they're telling me I look exactly like my dad, but with my mother's eyes. Not that I would really know, since I've only seen you in a few pictures until now. I don't really remember you much,"

Lily's eyes seemed a tad shiny. He thought maybe his eyes were watery as well, as much as he didn't want to admit it. It felt like his heart had just swollen a hundred times its size for a moment, before shattering completely. He found out he got to be with Lily. He would get to marry her and call her his and she would have his child that would have her beautiful green, green eyes. And hell, though he was just seventeen, he could see himself wanting it, loving every minute. But they would die. They would die –be murdered– young, just twenty-one, leaving their baby with her green, green eyes an orphan.

He had never hated Voldemort so much than in that instant.

"So, will someone please tell me who the others are and how in the world you got here?" Harry asked.

There were several mumbled introductions, and after that, the Marauders all cast a glance at Sirius for the explanation. "That would be my fault," said Sirius, raising a hand. "We were trying to time travel to the end of the year, to see what we'd be like, but the spell I cast sent us sixteen years in the future!" He was deep in thought for an instant. "Do you recognize me?" he asked slowly.

Harry shook his head. "Not really, should I?" he inquired, his eyebrows pulling together.

Sirius quirked his mouth to the side before he spoke, "I just thought that, maybe if James and Evans were no longer alive..." His tone grew a bit saddened, "That maybe, maybe you'd be living with me, or something. I'm James' best friend, so isn't there a possibility I'm the godfather?" He looked to James.

James nodded immediately. "Absolutely. I'd trust with my life, mate. I had to have made you godfather. Maybe... I dunno, maybe you don't live here or something?" suggested James. "Maybe you have to live somewhere else, and that wouldn't allow Harry to live with you, so he has to live with other relatives?"

"Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon and my cousin, Dudley, are my only living relatives," said Harry. James didn't have any siblings, so he knew that this Petunia must have been Evans' sister, so he turned to watch her reaction.

Lily looked a bit angry. "You live with Petunia? How does she treat you?" she questioned rapidly. She seemed to know that she should offer James some sort of explanation for her response, considering it concerned _their_ son. She looked at him. "Petunia and I don't talk much. She hates magic, and almost everything involved with it, myself included."

Harry looked a bit stony. "She hasn't changed," he mumbled with a frown. "They've never really treated me like much of a person. They were alright with me before the magic started; they thought they'd squashed it out of me. But when strange things started to happen, they treated me even worse. 'Course, I had no idea why these things were happening, since I didn't know I was a wizard until I was eleven. They hid my Hogwarts letter from me at first,"

"What?" said James, outraged. He was starting to hate this Petunia woman, not only for hating Lily, but also for treating his son like dirt and keeping him from the world in which he belonged.

Harry shrugged, as if he were accustomed to that sort of treatment. (Inside, James' temper flared, because damn it, that wasn't the sort of treatment his kid should have to become used to,) "The owls just kept on coming though, so they moved. Of course, on my birthday, Hagrid found us." Harry paused briefly and grinned. "He gave Dudley a tail, told me I was a wizard, and then took me away on a flying motorcycle."

James shook his head, for the first time since this conversation started, allowing himself to smile. "Gotta love that Hagrid," he murmured to himself, shaking his head. "Er, I don't mean to change the subject, but would you mind telling us who the floating woman was?"

Harry shook his head. "Aunt Marge. Well, she's not my real aunt, obviously, since I don't have any other living relatives. Aunt Marge is my Uncle Vernon's sister. I sort of accidentally blew her up..."

At Harry's words, the Marauders all burst out into laughter. Their laughter was slightly strained from their sadness and stress, but it was there, and it felt good to laugh. "Sort of... accidentally... _blew her up_?" asked Sirius through an abundance of laughter. "Merlin, you're more like your dad than you know,"

"Oi!" protested James. "The woman I blew up wasn't my aunt! She was one of Mum's socialite friends. How can I be expected to sit through years and years of pinched cheeks, pats on the head and 'Oh, aren't you just darling?' without cracking once?" he said, chuckling. "I was only thirteen anyway! But suffice to say, Mrs. Freemont doesn't come by when I'm home for the hols," he added to the additional laughter of his friends.

As the boys' laughter began to die down, Lily spoke to Harry. "So you're going to be in your third year at Hogwarts? What happened after Hagrid came and got you?"

He nodded. "Hagrid took me to Diagon Alley, and brought me to Gringotts to get wizard money from my vault. He got something from another vault, a small package that was empty, bar the item. Said it was Hogwarts business. Turns out that later on someone tried to steal from that very vault after it was emptied."

"This thief must've been clever, no one's ever been able to break into Gringotts, it's the safest place in the world besides Hogwarts." said Remus with a frown. The others nodded, including Harry.

Sirius and James, both having spent their fair share of time in Gringotts, exchanged a look. "_Enter, stranger, but take heed, of what awaits the sin of greed,_" recited Sirius.

James continued where Sirius left off. "_For those who take, but do not earn, must pay most dearly in their turn._"

"_So if you seek beneath our floors, a treasure that was never yours,_"

"_Thief, you have been warned, beware, of finding more than treasure there._"

Both Lily and Remus had their eyebrows raised. "Should I be worried that you two have the entire Gringotts warning message memorized?" asked the former.

"Extremely," Sirius smirked, as James responded, "I've spent a lot of time in Gringotts. What else am I supposed to do while Dad goes to withdraw money?"

Peter muttered, "I've probably spent just as much time in there as the two of you, and I've never seen fit to memorize a poem. You're such girls." (Here, Sirius mumbled something about Peter 'not having enough of a brain to understand the poem, anyway') Peter pointedly ignored this remark and said, "What happened next, Harry?"

"Hagrid helped me find all my school stuff, but I felt pretty confused, especially with all the staring. You see, since I didn't know about magic, I hadn't known about you being killed by Voldemort and how I was the only one to survive. The Dursleys told me you died in a car crash." Harry explained.

"Just like Petunia," said Lily with a frown. "To lie about what happened, just so she wouldn't be associated with a _'freak'_."

"On the day the train was leaving, Hagrid told me to go to platform 9 and ¾. I could only see platforms 9 and 10, so I asked someone who worked there. He was a Muggle, so of course he thought I was mad. I saw a family of redheads with owls and everything, so I asked them. Their mum, Mrs. Weasley, helped me get through. That day I met one of my best friends, Ron. As well as my other best friend, Hermione, though we didn't really become that great of friends until Ron and I saved her from a troll..."

"Saved her from a _what-now_?" James asked incredulously. There was no way he could believe that. Two first years, take on a full-grown troll? _Impossible._ (But then again, it was _his_ son. He probably should've stopped being surprised at these sorts of things.)

Harry grinned. "A troll. That's a story for another time though. In my first year, most people thought that Voldemort was dead. But really, he was in hiding, living –if you could call it that– on the body of someone else, a professor at our school. He was hunting unicorns and wanted to find the something to keep him alive, but we didn't know that 'til a bit later on. We stumbled upon Fluffy, Hagrid's three-headed dog one night, and we knew he was protecting something, but we didn't know what. We sort of figured it must've been that package Hagrid got from the vault. We asked Hagrid, and he let it slip that it was between Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel,"

"Nicholas Flamel," intoned Lily. "That's the co-creator of the philosopher's stone! That was what Voldemort was after, wasn't it?"

Harry smiled at her. "Yes, it was. We checked out the library, but couldn't find anything with Nicholas Flamel in it. So we checked in the restricted section," Harry ducked his head as Lily gave him a reprimanding look. "We wanted to know. I used my dad's invisibility cloak to get there without anyone seeing –"

Lily blurted, "Your dad's _what_?" at the same time Sirius said, "Prongs! Do you have it with you?"

James looked at Lily, deciding it was alright to tell her about it now that Harry had let the secret out that it existed. "I have an invisibility cloak. It's been passed down through my family for generations, and yes, that's part of the reason we get away with much more than we should," he added with a grin. Next he addressed his friend's inquiry. "Yeah, Padfoot, I have it," He drew the cloak out of his robes. It was a Hogsmeade weekend, so they'd not come dressed in their uniforms, but they were all still wearing wizard's –or in Lily's case, witch's– robes. He put it back into his pocket.

"That's all lovely, but I'd like to hear the rest of the story, if you don't mind," said Remus with slight irritation.

Harry took a breath before continuing. "So we still couldn't find it in the restricted section, when Hermione remembered seeing it in a book. We found about the philosopher's stone. I'll give you a briefer version and just skip the part where we try and stop the stone from being stolen. We had to get past Fluffy, Devil's Snare, a room full of flying keys and a giant chessboard, where Ron and Hermione told me to continue on my own.

"Soon, I was face to face with Voldemort, or rather, him and the professor he was living of off. Voldemort approached me, casting a ring of fire around us, so no one could get in or out. He offered for us to rule together, which I refused. He kept asking me where the stone was, and I said I didn't know, and I truly didn't. Then, I looked at the Mirror of the Erised which shows you want you want most. I'd looked in it before. I usually, saw myself, with a family." Harry's eyes were downcast for a moment.

Lily looked at Harry for a moment before drawing him in for a hug. "Oh, Harry..."

Harry took a deep breath and drew away from his mother, (_His bloody seventeen-year-old _mum, thought James) bringing his gaze back up and continuing the story. "Instead of seeing my parents, I saw me, with the stone in my pocket. I looked in my pocket, and there it was. He tried to grab it, and I dropped it, flinging it a few feet away. We both scrambled for it, and when Quirrel, the teacher that Voldemort was living on, reached for it, I pushed his face away. His face shattered as if it were made of stone. I passed out.

"When I woke up, I was in the hospital wing, surrounded by gifts and candy. I was informed by Dumbledore that we lost the Quidditch cup, and I felt pretty horrible, since I was Seeker. But we did win the house cup. He told me the stone was destroyed."

They looked at him in amazement. "And that was only your_ first_ year?" asked Peter in shock.

James beamed proudly at Harry. "You made Seeker first year? You must be the youngest player for a house team in over a century. That's my boy." He patted his son on the back. He was still getting used to the idea he _had_ a son, even if it wasn't for a while, let alone one almost his age, but he couldn't contain his excitement at Harry's position on the team.

"Was your second year that mad?" asked Remus interestedly.

Harry took another deep breath and shot off into his explanation. "As far as I knew, I didn't get any letters from my friends over the summer. My uncle's boss and his wife stopped over for dinner. That same night a house elf apparated into house and tried to convince me not to go back to Hogwarts, saying it wasn't safe. He was the one who was hiding the letters from my friends.

"I argued with him, and then he levitated a pudding bowl and dropped it on Vernon's boss's wife in an attempt to get me expelled. The ministry just knew magic was being performed, they didn't know it wasn't me. I got an official warning. The Dursleys had me locked up in my room from then on. They separated me from all my school things. Ron and his older twin brothers, Fred and George, came to rescue me in their dad's flying car." He said with a grin.

"Your stories have a lot of flying vehicles in them, don't they?" Sirius commented, lips twitching. "Though I fancy the idea of having that flying motorbike you mentioned earlier on, myself."

Harry laughed. "Yes, I suppose they do have a lot of flying vehicles. Or, at least more than other people's stories. We flew to Ron's house and I stayed there for the rest of the summer. We went to Diagon Alley, and saw Gilderoy Lockhart at book signing."

"Gilderoy Lockhart?" interrupted Sirius, wrinkling his nose. "I have Herbology with him. What a flake. It's hard to believe he'd have the ability to write a book, much less one that people would actually _read,_"

James, Peter, Remus and Lily all shot Sirius disapproving looks for interrupting the story _again_. "Sorry." muttered Sirius sheepishly. He looked at Harry. "Continue."

Harry rolled his eyes, but went on. "As I was saying, we saw Gilderoy Lockhart signing books, and then we found out he was to be our Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. He wanted to take pictures with me for the Daily Prophet, but I didn't want to, though that didn't stop him. When Ron and I were at the barrier, we couldn't get through. We found out later that Dobby, the house elf from before, had sealed it. The train was leaving without us, so we had to find another way to get to Hogwarts. We kinda... stole Ron's dad's car." he mumbled in a rush.

In the silence, the older teens could only gape at him. James was the first one to snap out of it. "I don't know whether I'm impressed, jealous, concerned or confused," said James in mystification, "Possibly all of the above!"

"You stole... a car." Lily said, looking horrified. "At the age of... _twelve? _Oh dear Merlin, what have Potter's genes done to you?"

James frowned. "Why do you assume it's my genes?" (Though she was probably right.)

She frowned back at him. "Because you've given me no reason to expect otherwise, and every reason to doubt you."

Harry seemed to sense the tension between his parents and hurried on with the story. "We flew it to Hogwarts, but we hit the Whomping Willow. We were tossed around everywhere, and thought we were going to get expelled. Professor Snape wanted to, but Dumbledore wouldn't let him.

"At school strange things started to happen. I started hear voices and then Filch's cat was petrified, next to a sign that appeared to written in blood saying, 'The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir beware'. The chamber of secrets was supposed to be a secret place in Hogwarts where Slytherin hid his monster. More people were petrified, and Snape and Lockhart started a duelling club. Draco Malfoy and I had to go first. We were only supposed to disarm each other, but he didn't follow the rules, so I didn't either. He conjured up a snake and the snake tried to attack one of the students. I had talked to a snake the summer before first year, and I accidentally set it loose on my cousin." he admitted, caught between grinning and looking guilty.

"You set a snake loose on your cousin." stated Lily, eyes wide. She appeared to have lost the will to admonish him at this point.

"You're a _Parselmouth?_" James questioned, unsettled. Speaking Parseltongue was a quality that only dark wizards tended to have. Salazar Slytherin himself, founder of Slytherin house, spoke it. Rumour was Voldemort might have even possessed that quality. To hear that his own child had that very power disturbed him deeply.

"Er, yes to both. So I told the snake to back off, not realizing I was speaking in Parseltongue. All the people around me only heard hissing, and thought I was egging it on. Since I could speak to snakes, everyone thought I was Slytherin's heir, and that I was the one who was petrifying people.

"I found a diary that said Tom Riddle on the front. I looked inside, but it was empty. I wrote in it, and it wrote back. I asked it about the Chamber of Secrets, and it said it couldn't tell me anything, but it could show me. It pulled me into the memory of Tom Riddle, when he was at school. He was a prefect and was trying to find out who opened the Chamber. No one could see or hear me in the memory. A girl had died, so Riddle cornered Hagrid, and said that he was going to turn him in. Hagrid said his creature didn't do it, but Riddle didn't believe him. Riddle turned him in, and Hagrid was expelled from Hogwarts."

"That's bull!" said Sirius heatedly. "Hagrid would _never _set _any_ creature upon someone else. He wouldn't!"

Peter nodded fervently. "Hagrid's a great bloke; he wouldn't do a thing like that."

"Never," agreed James.

"While I agree with you all that Hagrid is a good bloke, don't you think that we should let Harry tell us the rest of the story?" inquired Remus, raising an eyebrow. All nodded their consent, and put their defences of Hagrid aside for the moment.

Harry continued where he'd left off. "Ron and I were visiting Hagrid when ministry officials came. Ron, Hermione and I all believed that Hagrid was innocent. The Minister for Magic made Hagrid go to Azkaban. Ron and I were hiding under the invisibility cloak and Hagrid gave us a message. We were supposed to follow the spiders. Ron's terrified of spiders, so obviously, he wasn't exactly thrilled, but we did follow them. We followed the spiders right into the Forbidden Forest, where we met Hagrid's giant talking spider, Aragog. He talked to us and told us he wasn't Slytherin's monster. He didn't do anything to harm us up 'til that point. But then he said that he could not deny his children food that wandered willingly there, and his children came after us. We ran and ran, and found Ron's dad's car in the forest. We got in and drove towards the school, all the spiders chasing after us. We got out the forest in one piece, which was basically a miracle. The car drove itself back into the forest.

"Hermione was doing research on the monster when she got petrified. Ron and I found a piece of paper in her hand talking about basilisks. They are giant snakes that can kill with one stare. It didn't make much sense at first, because no one had died. But then we realized that no one had looked at it. They all only saw its reflection. Then we were kinda wondering how it was going around the school unnoticed, but Hermione wrote down the answer to that too. It was travelling around in the pipes. We soon realized the girl who'd died the last time the chamber was open was Moaning Myrtle."

Sirius looked shocked. "So _that's_ how Moaning Myrtle died? I always thought that it was something sexual, you know? _Moaning _Myrtle? I mean really, a name like that can give you a reputation,"

"Gross, Padfoot!" Remus said, smacking Sirius on the back of the head. "We do not need to hear things like that!"

Harry continued as if Sirius had not interjected with that unnecessary information. "Ron's sister was taken into the Chamber, and Lockhart was bragging about how he had known where the Chamber was all along, so the professors told him to find Ginny and save her. We overheard this and decided to go to Lockhart to help him. The coward he was, when we walked in he was packing. We told him we knew where the chamber was and he wanted to run away.

"We went down to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom and found a sink with a snake engraved on it. I opened it by speaking Parseltongue, and the whole sink disappeared into the ground. We went down the shaft, landing underground. We had disarmed Lockhart, so he could hardly object to coming, while we were the ones with the wands.

"There was a cave-in, and Ron and Lockhart were trapped on one side and I was on the other. I saw Ron's sister Ginny, lying on the floor, seemingly dead or unconscious. I rushed over to her to see if she was still alive. Tom Riddle appeared in the chamber. I warned him about the Basilisk.

"Riddle seemed amused, and said the creature would not come unless he willed it. He proceeded to explain that he was the sixteen-year-old Voldemort."

"V-V-Voldemort survived the incident in first year, then?" asked Peter fearfully.

"Dumbledore thought so, when I'd asked him. He thought that Voldemort was just incredibly weak, and couldn't fend for himself at that point so he wasn't going to come after me anytime soon. And anyway, this wasn't really him, more like a projection of him. Riddle was cruel and told me how he had had been controlling Ginny through the diary, how he'd made her open up the chamber and write those things on the walls, and how she didn't remember doing it, but she had suspected the diary and tried to destroy it.

"He set the basilisk on me, and I squeezed my eyes shut and ran. After a while, Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix, came and blinded it so it could no longer kill with a single stare, and couldn't see my body heat. Riddle was angry but still said that the creature could hear me. The Basilisk bit me, poisoning me. Fawkes healed me with his tears and delivered the sorting hat. Out of the sorting hat I pulled the sword of Godric Gryffindor. I killed the Basilisk with it. I had pulled out a basilisk fang out of my arm and used it to stab the diary. The diary bled ink like it was blood, and as I stabbed the diary, Riddle seemed to be dying as well. Soon he was gone.

"I rescued Ginny and went to go get Ron. I pushed rocks out of the way and made it to the other side. Lockhart got hold of Ron's wand, which had broken earlier that year. He revealed that none of his supposed accomplishments were true, and that he had found out who achieved the accomplishments and how, then preformed memory charms on the people who actually made the breakthroughs. He said that he was going to do that to us and got ready to perform the spell. But Ron's malfunctioning wand made the spell bounce back onto him, erasing his memory.

"Again, I ended up in the hospital wing. The Quidditch cup wasn't handed out, due to the whole Chamber of Secrets ordeal. I found out that Lucius Malfoy was the one who had slipped Ginny the diary. Dobby was his house elf, and Dobby disobeyed his orders to try and save me, and he had to punish himself for it. I was very grateful to him. I handed Malfoy the diary, with one of my socks folded in it. Malfoy shoved the diary at Dobby and Dobby opened it to find my sock. Malfoy had handed him clothing, so that meant he was free. Malfoy wasn't too happy with me for that, but now Dobby's a free elf."

James looked at him, unsure of how to react now that the story seemed over. "Gee, that's all?" he deadpanned.

Harry grinned. "I also lost all the bones in my right arm during a Quidditch match due to a rogue bludger, and my mates and I brewed polyjuice potion to go down to the Slytherin common room to spy on Malfoy."

Sirius looked at his best friend's son in amazement. "He's worse than us. Or better, depending on how you look at it."

"Merlin," Lily muttered. "You've been through a lot."

Harry nodded. "Yeah, I have." he said simply.

Sirius looked at Harry. "There are a few things I want explained. What do you mean about Snape? Don't tell me that git is a teacher!" He looked at James. "And I still want to know why I'm not with Harry if you guys aren't. Are you _sure_ you've never seen me before?" he asked Harry.

Harry surveyed him closely, trying to remember if he'd ever met Sirius. "Not that I remember..." said Harry, "Wait... you do kind of look like someone in a few of the pictures I have..." He turned back to his trunk and stuck a hand in it again. He pulled out a photo album. On the cover, it at had a picture of James and Lily holding a baby Harry.

All five of them crowded around Harry, trying to get a closer look. James and Lily were the closest to him, so they got the best view of the pictures. Harry opened the book and what was on the first page had all of them gasping. It was a picture of what looked like Evans' and James' wedding. James was wearing black dress robes and Evans was wearing a flowing white dress and they were smiling bigger than they ever thought they'd had when James leaned in and pulled her into a kiss. To the side, Sirius and Remus could be seen standing next to James, opposite two unknown bridesmaids. James supposed Peter was the one who would've took the picture.

Harry pointed to Sirius in the picture. "The best man in the wedding. That looks a bit like you, except older,"

Sirius tried to lean past James and Evans to get a better look. "That _is_ me!" He looked directly at James and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "You made me best man!" he said excitedly, smiling.

James grinned to himself a bit, but couldn't get himself to take his eyes off the book. Harry flipped through the next few pages. There were pictures of the two at Hogwarts next. There was a picture from graduation that showed Lily with the Marauders, there was one where James Lily were just smiling widely at each other, another with James in the lake and Lily laughing very hard, and a few where James would hold her to him tightly.

Lily turned away. "I can't look at this anymore," she murmured, shaking her head.

"Nor can I," James agreed. This was playing havoc on his heart, seeing glimpses of what he could have, but knowing that he would lose it all soon after he got it.

"We still have problems," Lily said, probably trying to change the subject, which James welcomed gratefully. "We still need a place to go and we need to get back to our time before we damage the future more than we already have." Her words made them all realize their situation again.

"How about Diagon Alley?" James suggested. "We can go there and get rooms at the Leaky Cauldron and figure out what do about the whole being in the future with no way to get back thing,"

"How are we supposed to get there without attracting attention, Potter?" Lily asked. "You and I are supposed to be dead, we don't even know about the futures of Black, Pettigrew and Remus yet, and we bloody well are definitely hard to miss!"

Sirius spoke. "We could apparate, I suppose," he said with a shrug.

Lily shook her head. "No we couldn't. Harry still has the trace on him, and as far as the Ministry knows he's the only wizard in the area! He'd not only get into more trouble than he already is in, but we'd get discovered and disrupt the future terribly!"

"Well, about that," Remus began, "I was thinking, it wouldn't disrupt the future as badly if people didn't know who we were, right? So why don't we put on some glamours before heading off anywhere,"

"But wouldn't that also be magic?" asked Peter. It was a surprisingly good and relevant question coming from him.

James swore under his breath, hating this dilemma. They couldn't use magic around Harry, but they needed magic if they didn't want to be seen. _If we don't want to be seen..._ thought James, and the answer hit him like a ton of bricks. "Harry, do you still have the invisibility cloak that you talked about?"

"Yeah, it's in my trunk," he said, reaching into his trunk yet again. He pulled out the silvery material.

"Prongs, may I speak to you for a moment," said Sirius quietly. James started to walk over, but Sirius jerked his head in the direction of a spot a little ways away from the rest of the group. "Over there," he whispered once James was closer.

The two boys marched over to the spot which was no longer in hearing distance of the rest of them. Even so, Sirius spoke in a whisper. "Prongs, what you're thinking won't work."

James frowned. "Why not?"

Sirius sighed. "Because, there's not enough room for five people, even with _two_ cloaks. And we can't do what we usually do when we have this problem because then we'd have to let Evans in on our little secret. As much as I like the chick, we can't jeopardize that."

"Evans isn't _that_ tall, I'm sure if we divided the people as evenly as possibly she'd fit... You can go with Moony, since you're pretty big and he's pretty small... Evans can go with Wormtail since he's rather round and she's... not," James said, trying to work it out mentally.

"What about _you,_ Prongs?" asked Sirius sceptically. "You're fairly big, where're you supposed to go?"

"Er, I can pretend to that I'm Harry and I've had a real growth spurt?" he suggested jokingly, trying to lighten the mood. He sighed when Sirius' stern expression did not change in the least. "We can do magic as soon as we're in Diagon Alley, there will be other wizards there,"

Sirius huffed in frustration. "Damn it, Prongs, I just don't think I'm willing to risk it. You should go under the cloak with Moony, not me. At least as far as we know _I'm _not, you know... dead," he finished quietly, eyes downcast. James could see from his friend's expression that the fact he was indeed no longer alive in a few years time was something hard for him to deal with.

"Padfoot..."

"Please, James. Just stay under the cloak."

James sighed deeply, and nodded. They walked back towards the others, who had puzzled expressions on their faces. "Here's the plan," started James. "The way we'll stay hidden is that Evans and Pete can go under Harry's cloak, and Remus and I will go under mine while Sirius stays visible with Harry, pretending to be one of Sirius' many cousins or something of the like," He was very unwilling to go along with this plan, but the look on Sirius's face made him agree with him to appease his mate.

"Um, I've got a question about this plan of yours," said Lily.

"What?"

She looked bemused and cautious. "You've not exactly explained how we're to get to London without using magic."

Sirius let out a bark of a laugh. "Well, that's the easy part of all this, 'innit? We'll use the Knight Bus."

_A/N: Changed this story, a lot. I don't know if you'll like it, but personally, I enjoy it this version much more. I'm going to do this with the other chapters of this story, just so you know. My plan is for the story to third person following James, though that may change as the story goes on. Disclaim. It's JKR's. Oh, and I have an alternate title, too, if you like. "Mischief Unmanageable." Drop me a line if you have comments/questions/suggestions.  
_


	2. Chapter 2

_"Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know." -Ernest Hemingway _

"The Knight Bus?" asked Harry and Lily in unison. "What's that?" Lily questioned, confused.

"It's a bus that takes wizards where they need to go. You just have to flag it down with your wand hand, and it'll appear, no matter where you are." Sirius explained. He answered Lily's unasked question. "I ran away from home after fifth year. I couldn't apparate so I didn't know where to go, but I happened to trip and then there it was."

James clapped a hand on his friend's shoulder, remembering the night when Sirius had showed up on his doorstep, trunk in hand. He thought he'd have to beg to get his parents to let Sirius live there, but they welcomed him with open arms, a fact for which James would always be grateful. He frowned, realizing that if Harry had no living relatives, this had to mean his parents would pass away in the next few years as well. He was all too aware of their fragile state of health. He shook off the thoughts, focusing on the current situation.

Harry looked at Lily. "I guess you'd better be getting this on, then," he said, and handed his mother the silvery material.

She locked eyes with James briefly. He found it increasingly difficult to look her in the eyes for any period of time as the night wore on. He broke eye contact as she and Peter draped Harry's cloak (or rather, James's old cloak) upon themselves. Soon, only four of the six teenagers were visible. James soon pulled out the cloak he had in his robes and covered Remus and himself with it, and another two of their number disappeared from sight, though James had to strain his neck so he could keep his feet covered.

Harry looked at Sirius expectantly. The older boy stuck out his wand hand and waited.

_BANG!_

The noise startled all of them, and Remus bumped into James under the cloak, causing him to emit a small yelp. A large, purple triple-decker bus appeared in front of them, to the shock of everyone save for Sirius. Though the other Marauders were aware of the Knight Bus, they'd never actually been on it themselves. A young man wearing a purple conductor's uniform, who appeared around James's age, stepped off of the bus.

"Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. Just stick out your wand hand, step on board and we can take you to wherever you want to go. My name is Stan Shunpike, and I will be your conductor this evening." he said, in a manner that seemed very practiced. After his introduction, he immediately dropped his professional demeanour. "Well, c'mon then, get on."

Sirius stepped forward, but Harry's eyes seemed to linger on something in the bushes. "'Choo lookin' at?" asked Stan.

Harry shook his head. "Er, nothing. Must have been my imagination..."

The cloaked portion of the group hurried onto the bus, all bumping into one another as they went through the doors. Sirius and Harry stepped on board with Harry's trunk and owl cage in hand, Stan coming on behind them. They stood on the bus for a moment, before Stan questioned suddenly, "Woss that on your 'ead?"

Sirius's eyes darted to Harry, who quickly flattened his fringe to cover up the lightning bolt scar on his forehead. When Harry muttered a hasty "Nothing," to the inquiry, Stan next said, "Woss your name?"

James, remembering the reason they'd been able to spot Harry as a wizard, panicked. If Harry said his real name, Stan would probably go blurting it out, and they did not need Ministry officials around them when they were trying not to get themselves arrested.

Harry quickly blurted, "Neville Longbottom,"

The suspicion did not leave Stan's face. "Where you two 'eaded? We can go anywhere you like, long's it's on land. Can't do nuffink underwater."

"How much would it be to get to London?" Sirius asked, reaching a hand into his pocket. Silently, James thanked Merlin that it was a Hogsmeade weekend.

"Eleven Sickles," replied Stan, "but for firteen you get 'ot chocolate, and for fifteen your get an 'ot water bottle an' a toofbrush in the color of your choice."

Both Sirius and Harry extracted the money from the respective places. Stan led them down the bus, which held, to most of the teens shock, not seats, but brass bedsteads. He showed them where their beds would be, right beside the driver as it happened, and the invisible parties followed.

Sirius sat down on his bed and muttered through the corner of his mouth, "Sit on a bed and hold on tight." It seemed that both groups had heard him, because when Stan said, "Take 'er away, Ern," and another incredible _BANG_ occurred, the cloak did not slip off Remus and James, nor Lily and Peter. Harry had fallen back on his bed, and was watching, stunned as he stared out the window of the bus. They were now on a completely different street than Magnolia Crescent.

Stan seemed to find Harry's surprise enjoyable. "This is where we was before you flagged us down," he explained. "Where are we, Ern? Somewhere in Wales?"

"Ar," replied the driver, Ern. He continued driving, and after a moment said, "Best go wake up Madame Marsh, Stan. We'll be in Abergavenny in a minute."

Stan walked away from the front of the bus and disappeared up a narrow staircase. He came back soon enough, a nauseous-looking witch in tow. "'Ere you go, Madame Marsh." Stan said pleasantly, as the bus jerked once more. (The hidden time-travelers were quite lucky, for their grip on the bed was still strong.) As the woman went unsteadily off the bus, Stan threw her bag to her, the doors shutting immediately after. The bus took off once more.

It appeared the conductor had grown bored with Harry, because he next turned on Sirius. He examined the seventeen-year-old's face, and apparently came to a conclusion. "You know who you look like, mate?" he asked. Sirius shook his head. "Sirius Black."

Sirius paled and said in a somewhat smothered voice, "Er, you know him then?"

Stan laughed. "Mate, who _doesn't _know him? Where you been?"

James was holding his breath underneath his cloak. He wanted to think that the reason Stan knew of his friend was a positive one, but hope was scarce in his mind. The reason everyone knew of _him_ was because he was dead, and it could just as well be a horrid reason that applied for Sirius. "Not in England, recently. Went on a vacation to America." lied Sirius. "So, what's going on with Sirius Black?"

"You oughta read the papers more." Stan pulled out a copy of the _Daily Prophet _and unfurled it. On the front of it was a large photograph gaunt-faced, ratty, long-haired man who could be recognized, if you looked hard enough, to be Sirius Orion Black.

_Effing hell,_ thought James, cringing. Stan handed the front page to Sirius, and being sat next to him, both Remus and James could clearly see the headline: **BLACK STILL AT LARGE.** They all read onward as fast as they could.

Sirius Black, possibly the most infamous prisoner

ever to be held in Azkaban fortress, is still eluding

capture, the Ministry of Magic confirmed today.

"We are doing all we can to recapture Black,"

said the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, this

morning, "and we beg the magical community to

remain calm."

Fudge has been criticized by some members of

the International Federation of Walrocks for in-

forming the Muggle Prime Minister of the crisis.

"Well, really, I had to, don't you know," said an

irritable Fudge. "Black is mad. He's a danger to

Anyone who crosses him, magic or Muggle. I have

the Prime Minister's assurance that he wil not

breathe a word of Black's true identity to anyone.

And let's face it – who'd believe him if he did?"

While Muggles have have been told that Black is car-

rying a gun (a kind of metal wand that Muggles use

to kill each other), the magical community lives in

fear of a massacre like that of twelve years ago, when

Black murdered thirteen people with a single curse.

James refused to believe it. He _knew_ his best friend, and he was not like the bloodthirsty members of the Black family. He was _not_. Sirius would never take an innocent life, not in his lifetime, much less _thirteen_. He had to have been wrongly convicted. Yes, that was it, his friend was wrongly put it Azkaban, and he was so frustrated that no one would believe him that he escaped. There was simply no other answer. But he realized with a sinking feeling that perhaps James had met the easier fate of the two. Was it not easier to die in a single instant than slowly be driven mad by soul-sucking creatures? He turned his gaze to Sirius.

Sirius was shaking, the paper he held barely staying in his hands. His face was completely puce and he looked as if he might be sick. James wondered in the back of his mind if he had looked like this earlier that night. The longer-haired boy's mouth was slightly ajar, as if there was so much he wanted to say, but he was at a loss for words.

Harry was watching the reaction of the older boy with a furrowed brow. He held out his hand for the paper and Sirius handed it to him shakily. As soon as the paper was out his hands, he grasped the edge of the bed tightly, his knuckles white.

James watched the face of the boy who would one day be his son as he read the article. His face seemed to display more and more worry as he read on. Harry frowned deeply and gave the newspaper back to Stan.

"Wossamater, mate?" Stan inquired, looking at Sirius's face. "You don' look too well. The paper got you scared?"

Sirius muttered, "Something like that."

"'Choo say your name was again?" he asked, his eyes narrowing slightly. The uneducated young man was much too observant for James's liking. Too many questions, with not enough answers prepared.

"Regulus," blurted Sirius, clearly not thinking. For all he knew, his brother could've died, as well. Or, could be so well known in the magical community that it was much too suspicious to share his name. But, the same argument might also be applied to any other name he used. And perhaps his resemblance to, well, himself, was too strong to be passed off as random.

Stan did not seem to find fault with the borrowed name. "You oughta be scared, Regulus. Black is mad, 'e is. 'E murdered all those Muggles, an' a wizard, in broad daylight. Witnesses an' all. 'E was woz a big supporter of You-Know-'Oo."

If James thought that Sirius could not look any more horrified and sick, he was proven wrong after Stan's statement. He was absolutely white, save for the tinge of green his cheeks held. "Was he now?" Sirius said, his voice barely there.

"Yeah," Stan responded, nodding. "Very close to You-Know-'Oo, they say. Anyway, when little 'Arry Potter got the better of You-Know-'Oo–"

Harry flinched and flattened his fringe once more.

"– All You-Know-'Oos supporters was tracked down, wasn't they, Ern? Most of 'em knew it was all over, wiv You-Know-'Oo gone. But not Sirius Black. I 'eard 'e thought 'e'd be second-in-command once You-Know-'Oo 'ad taken over. They cornered Black in the middle of a street full of Muggles an' Black took out 'is wand and 'e blashed 'alf the street apart. 'Orrible, eh? An' you know what Black did then?" Stan asked, his voice in a low and dramatic tone.

"What?" said Harry.

"_Laughed_." Stan told them. "Jus' stood their an' laughed. An' when reinforcements from the Ministry of Magic got there, 'e went wiv 'em, quiet as anyfink, still laughing 'is head off."

Sirius's eyes were bulging out of his head. "I think I'm getting bus-sick." he declared, grabbing an empty sweet packet from his robes and proceeding to vomit loudly. He wiped his mouth on the back off his hand. He must have realized he would be able to use his wand now that Harry was in the presence of many overage wizards, because Sirius vanished the packet. Sirius let out a shakey breath.

"'E usually get sick on these?" Stan murmured to Harry. Harry shook his head. "Y'know, they 'ad a job of coverin' the incident up, din' they, Ern?" said Stan. "'Ole street blown up an' all them Muggles dead. What was it they said 'ad 'appened, Ern?"

"Gas explosion," grunted Ernie.

"An' now he's out," Stan continued, looking at the horrid picture of Sirius on the front cover. "Never been a breakout from Azkaban before, 'as there, Ern? Beats me 'ow 'e did it. Frightenin', eh? Mind, I don't fancy 'is chances against them Azkaban guards, eh Ern?"

James knew well about the dementors of Azkaban. He'd encountered a dementor before. There'd been Death Eaters loose in Diagon Alley (who'd started one of the largest attacks of Voldemort's so far) and James had been there, summer after his sixth year, for supplies. After most of the underage wizards had been evacuated, the Ministry gave word for the release of dementor to kiss any surviving Death Eaters. He had been there, and he had to cast his patronus, the same form as his animagus form, to stop himself from being kissed. The things he remembered... he never wanted to see a dementor again.

Ernie shuddered. "Talk about summat else, Stan, there's a good lad. Them Azkaban guards give me the collywobbles."

Stan put the paper away, and the other teenagers on the bus –at least the ones James could see– looked terrible. Harry looked as if he were considering how it might be if he were sent to Azkaban, Sirius looked as if his world had lost meaning, and under the cloak, Remus had the most horrified expression on his face.

James was not better off. He felt that if he had some food in his stomach, it would surely come back up. He still didn't want to think of his best friend as a murderer... even if all evidence pointed to the contrary. Stan seemed to know the _entire_ story, and it sounded like he did it. Hell, if it were anyone else but one of the Marauders, he would probably have no doubt in his mind that they had. But this was _Sirius_, the bloke who'd become an animagus for his friend, who laughed like he barked, who'd do anything to protect his friends. _But_, it was also Sirius, the bloke who'd sent Snape down the Whomping Willow to face Remus, who had times where no one could get through to him, who was raised to be a pure-blood supremacist until Hogwarts.

He honestly didn't know what to think.

And he hated it. He _should've_ been able to say without a doubt that his mate was innocent. Somehow, the smallest seed of doubt was trying to spread and grow. James shook off all his thoughts and repeated stubbornly, unwilling to ever think ill of his best friend, _He _is _innocent._

Stan seemed to remember that the two passengers he could see had paid for hot chocolate. He went and poured some out, but managed to spill Harry's on him when the bus jerked wildly. Sirius drank his own, and a minimal amount of colour returned to his cheeks.

"Breathe," James said, low enough that Sirius and Remus would be the only ones to hear him. "That isn't _you_. Just breathe."

As the bus continued on into the night, witches and wizards from all over the bus left again and again. Many were looking extremely tired and in sleep-wear. None looked too upset that they were to leave the Knight Bus. Soon, the only ones in the bus were James, Lily, Remus, Peter, Sirius and Harry.

"Right then, Neville, Regulus," Stan announced, clapping his hands, "whereabouts in London?"

"Diagon Alley," said Harry immediately.

"Righto," replied Stan, "'Old tight, then..."

Everyone did as the conductor instructed. A moment later, _BANG!_ They were speeding down the street, everything in the Knight Bus's path moving aside to make way for the triple-decker monstrosity. James was wondering what they would do once they could to Diagon Alley. Perhaps Harry and Sirius could book a room, they could sort out their appearances... and try to find a way to get home. Could they ask Dumbledore? Would he even be at Hogwarts during the holidays? He had to have a home, hadn't he? James did not know.

The bus jerked to a stop once more as Ern stomped a foot on the brake pedal. The doors of the Knight Bus opened to show the Leaky Cauldron, a run-down pub so many witches and wizards were familiar with. It led to the entrance of Diagon Alley, and Muggles were unable to see it.

Harry and Sirius thanked the driver and Stan helped with Harry's trunk again. Harry stepped off the bus and tried to bid goodbye to Stan, but the conductor seemed to lose focus. He was staring at something that could be seen in the shadows of the entrance to the pub.

"_There _you are, Harry," said a voice, and James's heart stopped for a moment.

A man came up behind Harry and put a hand on his shoulder. James could tell that this man was a Ministry man, and an important one too, by his demeanour. He wore a pinstriped cloak. It was clear to Stan who this man was, because he shouted, "Blimey! Ern, come 'ere. Come _'ere_!"

Harry looked up at the man who'd grasped his shoulder, and looked immediately frightened.

Stan got off the bus. "What didja call Neville, Minister?" he asked, excitement in his voice.

_Minister? _James thought, his eyes widening. _Oh, bollocks._

The Minister, looking tired and cold, frown. "Neville," he repeated, his brow furrowing. "This is Harry Potter."

_Double bollocks._

"I knew it!" said Stan joyfully. "Ern! Ern! Guess 'oo Neville is, Ern! He's 'Arry Potter! I can see 'is scar!" He gestured to the mark on Harry's forehead, which hand been revealed more when he jumped off the bus. Harry appeared very self-conscious and nervous.

"Yes," the Minister said testily, "well, I'm very glad the Knight Bus picked Harry up, but he and I need to step inside the Leaky Cauldron now..." He led the young boy into the pub.

James and Remus exchanged looks underneath the cloak. They nudged Sirius, just as Stan said, "Ain't you gettin' off the bus, too, Reg?"

"Right," responded Sirius. He waited a moment for the people in the invisibility cloaks to get off first, then stepped off. The Knight Bus shot off into the night.

"Should we follow them?" came the voice of Peter from just past Sirius's right shoulder.

Lily's voice replied from that general direction as well, "I don't think so. From what I saw of that article, Black might be a little recognizable to someone from the Ministry, even if he is younger," Her logic was sound, no matter how much no one wanted to accept it. "Black, you better stay out of sight. Maybe we could fit you under one of these if we crouched...?" she trailed off, not sounding too optimistic.

"We can't," Remus said, shaking his head, though no one but James could see it, "Padfoot, trade places with me under the cloak."

Sirius did not look happy. "Is that really our _only _option?" he asked, frowning.

"It's the best one we have," replied Remus. "Prongs and Lily can't do it, and Wormtail can be a bit nervous during pressure-filled situations. I'm our safest bet." He looked to either side of him carefully, and after determining no one was watching them, he slipped out from under the cloak. He pointed to the spot where James was standing, invisible.

James lifted the cloak slightly for a moment, and Sirius slipped underneath. "Should we follow them now?" Sirius said, eyes darting towards the entrance of the Leaky Cauldron. He seemed to be just as uncomfortable as James was about leaving Harry alone with the Minister. For one, he was his kid, seventeen or not. For two, he was only thirteen. How good of a liar could he be? Would he blurt something out to the man about what had happened that night? It also seemed that the man was looking for Harry, and that could mean that he was in trouble for his underage sorcery.

"I think it's best we wait out here for now." Remus stated carefully. "We shouldn't let any of us be seen for a long period of time."

A feminine sigh was heard. "I don't know if I agree. I mean, it was a little different when Black was visible, because he's more recognizable. I know it's more logical to stay here, but I want to protect Harry." Lily finished, a little more determined than in the beginning of her statement.

"I agree with Lily," James put in, all for protecting the younger boy.

Remus was shaking his head before James finished speaking. "You're letting your emotions cloud your better judgment. I understand that you want to be there for him, but it's not a good decision to go after them. We can get Harry to book a room, and we'll be able to sort out our problems there. We can't rush headfirst into things without thinking, especially not in a situation like this."

Peter spoke up, "I agree with Remus on this one. Safer, here."

James sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He didn't like this situation at all. He looked up into the sky, which was beginning to become light again. He saw a snowy white owl fly out a window and down to where they stood.

It landed on Remus's shoulder, and stuck out its leg. The sandy-haired boy removed the note, and proceeded to read it aloud quietly. "'I'm in room eleven. See you soon, Harry.'" he quoted.

Relief spread through James, feeling somewhat like the buzz from firewhiskey.

The owl flew off, and they all hurried into the pub. Tom, the same landlord as James had seen the previous summer (though the man had not been quite as toothless), was behind the bar, but luckily did not notice Remus hurrying up the stairs with his unseen companions. They walked until they saw a door with a brass number eleven on it, and Remus knocked and murmured, "Harry?"

The door was pulled open, and Harry looked just as thankful to see Remus as James was to see Harry. "Are they with you?" he asked, referring to the others.

"Yeah," Remus answered, stepping into the room.

There were some shuffling noises heard, and when everyone was finally inside, Remus shut the door. They pulled the cloaks off themselves, detectable once more. "So," said James, "I really think that–" He yawned. He tried once more. "Uh, I really think that–" again, he yawned.

Sirius blinked sleepily. "Maybe we should leave the planning until the morning," he said, swaying a little.

"I second that," Lily said, rubbing her eyes. "It'll be easier for us to talk when we're more– when we're more coherent."

Harry yawned loudly as well. "It has been a very long and weird night." These were the last words he said before falling back on his bed and falling asleep.

James, too tired to transfigure anything, laid down his robes and curled up on the floor. The others followed his lead before drifting off.

And the next thing they knew, it was morning.

James sat up and stretched a little, feeling as if he hadn't slept at all. Memories from the previous night were at the forefront of his mind. It was all giving him a headache. He frowned deeply. "Please tell me that all this time traveling, having a kid with a bird who hates me, no way to get home crap was all a dream," he said to Sirius, who was also getting up.

"'Fraid not, mate," Sirius muttered tiredly. "Please tell me I'm going to be able to get a few more hours of sleep,"

"Not happening, Padfoot," interjected Remus, having been woken up by the chatter. The werewolf ran a hand through his hair, perhaps a habit he'd picked up from James. "We need to figure some things out. You won't be able to sleep for a while." His tone of voice made it clear that he regretted this fact very much. They all did, really.

Sirius groaned and pulled a face. "God, I hate the future."

"'Least you're not dead," grumbled James crankily.

He shot his friend a withering look. "Yes, because being a crazed mass-murderer is _so_ much better," Sirius snapped sardonically.

Remus intervened before the two irritable boys could argue any further. "Wake up Lily and Wormtail, would you? Try not to wake up Harry, the kid could use a little more sleep."

"So could we," said Sirius in an undertone. He did as told, though, reaching over and prodding the plump boy near him. At the lack of response, he shook him a little. Finally, feeling a bit frustrated, he pulled out his wand and mumbled, "_Augamenti._"

A jet of water shot out of the wand and hit Peter in the face. "Hey!" he protested, wiping his dripping face. He moved to a sitting position, glaring at his friend. "What was that for?"

"For being a lazy-arse who won't get up, that's what," he responded.

Off to the side, James was trying his luck with attempting to get Lily up.

"Evans. _Evans_," he repeated, nudging her. "Get up, would you? C'mon, make my dismal life the smallest bit easier and wake up for me. There's a girl, come on." The redhead was slowly coming to, thankfully. He didn't know how long he could keep up at this without using a hex to wake her up.

"Huh, Potter?" she questioned, blinking repeatedly. "What time is it? How long did I sleep in? Are we late for class?"

James sighed, rubbing his temples. "Look around you, Evans. There's no classes; we're not at Hogwarts. We're not even in the same bloody decade. We're on the uncomfortable floor of a room in the Leaky Cauldron, sitting here with my irritable-but-conscious-mates, and our unconscious-soon-to-be-son." he explained to her, his headache worsening.

"Merlin, I was hoping it wasn't real," Lily put her head in her hands.

"As were we all," James said as he stood. "Unfortunately, some sick twisted fate out there seems to hate us, and here we are, utterly screwed over by them again." He looked up, cursing whatever higher power decided that the way to punish him for being a git for ages was to put him through this. Really, did hexing a few Hufflepuffs account for all this? Maybe this wasn't a punishment, just a cruel joke that the cosmos were pulling on him, laughing their arses off at his pain.

Lily stood up, and all the Marauders and her gathered together to conference. James transfigured their robes into chairs. They sat in them and began to talk.

"I think we should contact Dumbledore," stated James firmly. "He'll know what to do." (He hoped.)

Remus gave him a sceptical look. "Do you know where he lives? Do you know if we can contact him if he's at Hogwarts? Do you even think he'll believe us? Do really think it's the sort of thing we should be writing in a _letter_, that could easily be intercepted by anyone?"

"Okay, Mr. Pessimism, you come up with a better idea, then," he retorted, getting annoyed.

"Fine, I will," replied the other. "I think we should change our appearances, so we can't be recognized. We can get some robes and the like after withdrawing more gold from our old Gringotts accounts, if they're still around. And they should be, goblins don't tend to care about wizard quarries. We'll wait it out until the first of September where we can board the Hogwarts Express and get to meet with Dumbledore in person." Remus planned out aloud.

"Sounds alright to me," said Lily, nodding. "I don't particularly fancy the idea of spending three weeks here, but it seems the most rational path to take."

The others grunted their agreement, however unwillingly. The voices must have been loud enough to reach Harry's ears, for he sat up in his bed and looked at the older wizards. "Hi," he greeted, fatigued.

"Hey," Lily answered softly, "we've just been sorting a few things out. How did that meeting with the Minister last night go?" she inquired curiously.

James was grateful she'd asked that question. It had been very nerve-wracking to watch Harry walk away with that man, not knowing if or when he would come back. It was the closest he'd come to feeling, ugh, he hated the word, _paternal_. He should be worrying about exams, girls and Quidditch, not death, time, and a son. He expected to worry about those things eventually, but he was thinking at the age of thirty upwards, but now it turned out he would not live that long.

Harry appeared to think of last night. "It was... surprising," he began, "I expected Fudge –that's the Minister's name, Cornelius Fudge– to punish me, expel me, maybe even send me to Azkaban, because I've already had a warning about underage sorcery. He just acted like he was happy that I was safe, said no harm done, told me to stay here and not to go wandering off." He shrugged, as if this explanation was just as odd to him as it was to them.

"Strange," murmured Remus. "They're usually at least a little more strict about these sorts of things."

"I know, I thought so too," agreed Harry. "But apparently not this time. So, what did you guys decide on?"

"We're going to change our appearances, so we can't be recognized, and then wait it out here, and get some more clothing and board the Hogwarts express come September first. I suppose we should come up with some sort of back-story as well, for the time being."

Lily thought about it for a moment. "Anyone from Hogwarts asks, we were all home-schooled and live in the same neighbourhood in England." she decided. "If they ask us our names... well, I suppose we're going to have to come up with some of those as well. Something similar to our own, so we won't forget them, but far enough no one suspects anything. Lizzie, for myself, maybe? That name is common enough."

"John, for me, I suppose." Remus said.

James mulled it over. He debated what he might call himself, and settled on something. "I think I'll go with Charlus. I look a lot like my dad, so I'm fairly used to people calling out to me using that name." He'd been to the Ministry on several occasions, and from a distance, he seemed a carbon copy of his father. Many a time, a frantic member of his dad's squad would approach, calling out to him, not realizing that the person they were rushing towards was not their leader.

"I think I might stick with Regulus. Same sort of reasons as James, I look a fair amount like my brother." he added, scowling a little. Clearly he did not like the similarity to his soon-to-be (or maybe current, at this point) Death Eater brother. He cared for his younger sibling, James had no doubt, but hated the fact that he was not strong enough to make the decision that Sirius had made the moment the sorting hat shouted 'Gryffindor!'

Peter seemed stuck. "Uh... hm, maybe– no, that wouldn't work. I don't know." He frowned. "Perry." he said decidedly.

James pulled out his wand and looked down at it. "Now for our appearances," murmured the Head Boy.

"Wait," Lily said, taking out her own wand as well. "Are we doing physical transfiguration, or charms? Personally, I don't fancy the idea of being permanantly scarred if something were to go wrong with the spell. A charm might be better."

"Then charms it is," agreed Remus. "Lily, you're our resident Charms expert. Care to have a go at it?"

Lily nodded and walked over to the mirror. She lifted her wand and non-verbally cast her charms. She pointed her wand at her hair, and her vibrant auburn was now a dark brown. She pointed it at her eyes, and her eyes went from a too-bright green to a faded blue. She made her nose slightly different, and her lips seemed fuller as well. When she properly faced James, he thought she did not look much like herself. "So, shall you all be doing your own charms, or will I?"

They all decided to do their own, due to the fact it was a little uncomfortable to have someone else decide what their appearances would be. Remus now donned red hair, while Peter's head was covered in black locks and James and Sirius had changed theirs to blonde, the latter's being much shorter than usual.

Sirius prodded James's new charmed-to-look-flat hair. "Weird," he muttered.

"Oi, stop that," said James, ducking out of his friend's grasp. He looked at himself in the mirror. His skin was lighter, his nose was shorter, and his eyes were green, instead of the normal hazel. He felt as if he were looking at a stranger. He still wore his glasses, though, because he couldn't possibly see without them. Looking behind him at Harry, he thought that no one would make the connection between he and his future kid.

Peter cleared his throat. "Uh, I've got a question. Will we be sleeping on Harry's floor for the next three weeks? Are we getting rooms, or transfiguring beds, or what?" he asked, looking around at everyone.

Remus looked thoughtful. "Good question. I suppose we can book rooms. Three, I suppose. James and Sirius can share, you and I can, Pete, and Lily would get her own, being, uh, that she is, er, a girl, and needs her... privacy." He glanced at Lily awkwardly. She seemed suddenly aware that she was the only female of the group. "We can do that when we go downstairs."

"Alright, now that we've got everything straight, I reckon we're set to leave." James declared, clapping his hands.

They all agreed and headed down the stairs, discreetly. Sirius approached the landlord, Tom, the same one from their time. He sorted out the rooms, while the others waited for him. Soon enough, they were all past the magical entrance and shuffling down Diagon Alley. They decided to split up to their preferred locations, and meet back and Florean Fortescue's in an hour to go to Gringotts.

James was going to go to Flourish and Botts to see if there happened to be a book that could explain how to reverse the spell, when a small hand settled on his shoulder. He turned around to find the newly transformed Lily. He looked down at her hand and gave her a curious look. "I'd like to talk to you," she explained.

"Sure, go ahead," He gestured for her to continue.

She shook her head. "Not here... Charlus. Somewhere where we can't be overheard." Lily glanced are around them on the crowded streets. She pulled him into the noisiest shop she could find, which happened to be a joke store, and led him into a secluded corner.

James couldn't help himself. "You know, if you wanted to meet me in a dark place, all you had to do was ask," he blurted out before he could thnk.

"Don't do that," she murmured with a frown. "I want to talk to you about... everything that's happened. I mean, last night we found out we got _married_, and had a _baby_ when we barely speak, and if we do it ends with an argument!"

"That's hardly fair," James found himself protesting, "We haven't argued all this month."

She gave a small laugh. "Potter, a month of managing to ignore each other, save for our duties, hardly makes us friends, or even acquaintaces for that matter." Lily looked out at the other people in the shop. There were many laughing, smiling faces and small children holding up glowing, flashing and loud objects all around them. She chose not to meet his eyes as she spoke. "It's just... I'm finding this all a little hard to process, and I imagine you are too. We had to have gotten married right out of school... it doesn't seem like our opinions could change so much over the course of a few months."

_Mine wouldn't, _he thought, somewhat bitterly. _I'd still be feeling the same way I do for you now. _"It is a bit overwhelming." he answered instead.

"Can you believe that when we go back, we'll only get four more years of life? Four more years to live, to learn, to make a difference. God, it's scary. I'm afraid that by the day my time comes, I won't have lived enough. Do you get what I mean?" She faced him once more, an imploring look on her face.

"I do," said James softly. He moved closer to her. "It feels as though four years is such a short time. That we won't be able to experience life. Life as a young adult, life after war, life with a family," he added the last part even more quietly. "It's horrid, knowing your future. Knowing that this is where your path will take you, no matter how you feel about the outcome. I mean, when I thought about the future, y'know, after the war, I imagined it differently. I imagined playing Quidditch professionally, maybe, and being with a girl for years, and finally settling down somewhere in my late twenties. And kids, I won't pretend I want a kid right now, but I thought that maybe someday I'd have a boy of my own to teach Quidditch to. Turns out I don't even get the chance."

Lily looked down, biting for lip. For one horrific moment, James thought she was going to cry. But she looked back up with him, her eyes dry, if a little unfocused. "I don't want to die," she told him in a barely audible voice.

James touched her shoulder. "Neither do I," he replied.

A voice behind them cleared their throat. "I'm afraid if you want to do _that_, you'll have to take it outside. We've got kids here, you know," they added the last part with a tinge of amusement.

The two jumped slightly and looked at a middle-aged, brown-haired man wearing a flashing, spinning and honking hat. This must have been the owner of the voice. He smiled at them knowingly, for reasons which James did not immediately understand. Then it came to him. A boy and a girl, alone, in a dark, secluded corner, with very little space between them.

James went pink, especially around the ears, as he stuttered out, "Oh, no sir– we weren't– er, that is, we aren't– um, doing that?" For an exceptionally good liar, he found himself struggling to deliver the truth.

The man winked. "No need to be embarrassed, son. I was young and in love once too. Just try to keep it outside the shop. Don't want the mums here to have to cover any of the little ones' eyes, hm?" he smiled cheerfully and skipped away to help a small boy who was attempting to reach a shelf much taller than the size of the boy.

James and Lily exchanged a look. He saw that she was equally flushed, if not more so. She pointed to the door. "Er, maybe we should go?" she suggested.

He nodded, unable to trust his voice. They hurried out of the shop and back onto the street. Once they were a decent distance away from the shop, he murmured, "That was incredibly embarrassing."

Lily nodded, still looking flustered. "Very much so. I can't believe he thought that..." She darted a glance at the shop.

James made a sound of agreement. "I'm in the mood for an ice cream, you in?" he asked daringly. Lately, he would not even attempt to believe that she would willingly spend time with him. But he was feeling good about their conversation in the joke shop and gave it a shot. He looked towards the ice cream parlour, which he'd been to so many times over his summers. "We do have to meet there anyways,"

Lily smiled apologetically. "Sorry, P– Charlus. I want to make a stop at Flourish and Botts to see if there's any books there that can get us out of this mess."

James almost smiled at their similar thought process. He just have her a brief nod before heading off to Florean's on his own. He was not alone for long, however, because a formerly dark-haired boy by the name of Sirius Black fell into stride alongside him on his way there. "Hey, mate," Sirius greeted, though they had not parted ways very long ago.

"'Lo, Padfoot," replied James, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Bored already?"

Sirius shrugged. "Just thought you could use some company. Where's Evans? Er, Lizzie? Thought I saw her take off after you?" He raised an eyebrow inquiringly.

"You did," he responded, looking in the direction she'd walked off in. "We chatted for a bit, and parted ways," James told him nonchalantly, though he was feeling anything but. The moments that had passed in the shop seemed to be the longest civil talk they'd had. He was replaying different parts of the conversation in his head over and over. _It doesn't seem like our opinions could change. Four more years to live, to learn, to make a difference. I won't have lived enough._

"I see. I suppose you two did have a lot to discuss, didn't you?" Sirius murmured understandingly.

James let out a breath of air that blew up his fringe. "You could say that," he grunted, ruffling his hair. James looked at his friend. "I fucking married her, Padfoot." he said in a low tone.

"I know." Sirius said.

"I had a _kid_ with her, man."

"I know that too, Prongs." he answered, sighing. "I can't think of what a number that must've done on your head." Sirius had been well aware of the feelings James had had for Lily in fifth year. James would deny any remnants of the feelings, no matter how large of a lie it was, even in front of Sirius. But he still must have some inkling as to much this was screwing with his mind.

James and Sirius arrived at the ice cream parlour, and ordered a sundae each after they were seated. James, unable to lead his mind anywhere else than where had been, twiddled his thumbs as he sat. He did not break the silence that had begun to fall over them. He supposed that now was the time that everything they'd discovered was hitting them full-force. The previous night there had been too many things going on, and that morning they were too tired to be concerned.

Sirius was the one who spoke first. His voice was quiet in the busy place, but James could still hear him. "I hate that this is how our lives turn out. I'm not sure which of us has it worse. I'm a bloody murderer, sure to get my soul rightfully sucked out by a dementor soon enough, and you're, well," He drew a finger across his throat, his eyes looking dull. He looked like he could not speak any longer.

"As is my future fucking wife." James whispered, slumping in his seat. "The mother of my bloody orphaned child."

"I reckon you win, then," Sirius muttered after a while, mirroring the other's posture. "For now, that is. Depends when I get my soul sucked out, I s'pose."

"Padfoot," he started, "I know you. I've known you for six years now, and been around you almost every second since I met you. You're innocent, I know it. You've got to have been framed, or something like that. I can't believe that the Sirius I know would do anything like that," James looked at Sirius determinedly.

Sirius broke eye contact. "That's just it, isn't it?" said Sirius lowly, clenching his fists around the edge of the table. "It's not the Sirius you know. It's the Sirius with sixteen years of difference from the one you know. There were _witnesses_, James. My face is all over the shop windows. Every newspaper in London has my mugshot on it. The Sirius you don't know _did _do this, and I have to live with the fact that someday that'll be me."

"Not if I have anything to say about it," James told him with quiet conviction.

"Hard to say anything when you're dead, Prongs." Sirius replied, finally looking back at James.

Any further protest James may or may not have next said were silenced by Florean showing up with two chocolate sundaes. They were barely into their second bites when four familiar voices were heard. James turned around to spot Remus, Lily, Peter and Harry entering the parlour.

"Of course you two would be eating," commented Remus, playing unaware of the tense atmosphere.

"Takes a lot of energy to look this good," quipped James, pretending as if nothing had gone on. "So, are we off then?"

The newly red-haired boy nodded. "To Gringotts," he said.

_A/N: Direct quotes from __Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.__ Disclaim. _


End file.
